Koestner To Speak at TBTM Event

The Coalition Against Sexual Violence (CASV) announced last night that Katie Koestner, a national spokesperson on date rape, will deliver a lecture at this year's Take Back the Night rally.

"She basically coined the term 'date rape,'" said J. Orchid Pusey '00, the CASV co-chair. "She speaks at between 600 to 800 schools across the country every year."

During her first year at the College of William and Mary, Koester was raped by a student she had been dating for several weeks.

"But when she decided to speak out about it, she was ostracized," said Alexis B. Karteron '01, Pusey's fellow co-chair.

Koester brought the debate about date rape into the national limelight when she appeared on the cover of Time in June 1991. She has also been interviewed on various talk shows including The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The CASV will be in charge of coordinating Koester's speech and the evening rally to follow. The event will occur on April 13 as part of Take Back the Night, a week-long series of events to promote the awareness of domestic violence.

At last night's meeting, the CASV spoke primarily about different ways to publicize the event and elicit the support of other University and Cambridge community organizations.